Life is short- In memory of Sergey

We learned that little Sergey in Ukraine has passed away. He was sent to Torez (a mental institution) in the middle of last year and passed away in November. In just a few short months a very HEALTHY child from a GOOD baby house (orphanage) passed away. It's easy to see that the children struggling for their lives or who are already sick or malnourished may not live long in an institution, but this little guy was VIBRANT. And the fact that he has gone Home to the Father so quickly is disheartening.

Here is a note from Andrea Roberts, director of Reece's Rainbow:
80% of the children sent to the institution die within the first year of being there. I am not sure how I can stress any more the critical need to find families for these 3 and 4 year olds before they get sent away. Sergey will be listed on our In Memorium page.

I'm so glad that Sergey is now happy and free. He's sitting on the lap of Jesus and is happier than he ever could be on this earth. But I'm so sad that he never got the love of a family.

This brings up another wave of feelings in me as we leave in a few days to go to the institution where Aleksa has lived for at least 2 1/2 months. Sergey wasn't in the institution long, and although he was in one of the more "well known" institutions, it is one that has now been cleaned up and taken care of much better than it had been. I wonder what we will find... I wonder IF we will find... but most of all I have to hand it back to God and know that this is His plan and His will for our family right now and that He will lead and direct our path.

Please say a little prayer for Aleksa tonight. That she will be safe, warm, and she will hold on for us to come.

Tonight Dennis Jernigan was at our church to lead a night of Worship and Praise. One of the last songs he sang tonight was written from the Father to His children. It is called "Passionate Obsession" and although I don't recommend you do a search to find that title, you can listen to the beginning of the song on his MySpace page on the right side. When you listen, close your eyes and picture someone leaving to go find their child... on the other side of the world sitting cold and alone in an institution. God does that and more for us. Needless to say I couldn't sit there without tears at church tonight. My love for this child I've never met is so great, and yet His love for each of us is immeasurably more than that. Wow.